Editorial: Little Leaguers return as champions

CONGRATULATIONS and thanks to the Petaluma Little League team, which gathered growing legions of fans during its remarkable run in the Little League World Series.

They returned home on Monday as winners, despite falling tantalizingly short in the national championship game in Williamsport, Pa.

The team, which had players and parents with family roots in Marin, captured the hearts of fans across the United States with its resilient run that was capped by one of the great comebacks in sports history on Saturday.

In Marin, fans gathered in front of big screen TVs throughout the county to watch as the team tried to bring the national championship home to Petaluma and play in the international title game on Sunday. Fans filled two theaters at Boulevard Cinemas in Petaluma.

Saturday's thrilling game epitomized the never-say-die spirit the players showed throughout the tournament.

They and their coaches refused to give up even when many of their new fans had turned off the game and found something else to do.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, trailing 15-5 and with just three outs left, those Little Leaguers did everything they could to prove Yogi Berra was right — it's never over until it's over.

Somehow, the kids from Petaluma battled back against a team they had already lost to and scored 10 runs, sending the game into extra innings.

The 12- and 13-year-old kids from across the county line displayed talent and tenacity that had fans from here and across the country believing the impossible was possible.

Saturday's game was truly unbelievable. It bested the team's script for thrilling comebacks written during several games before.

The team's enthusiasm and drive kept us watching, rooting and cheering.

Technically, they lost the game when Tennessee scored nine runs in the top of the seventh, but the boys from Petaluma won the hearts of the millions across the United States watching the game.

And the next day they proved how big their hearts are by putting their uniforms back on and beating Panama 12-4 in the third-place game.

On Monday, they returned to the North Bay as champs. They carried themselves as champs, on and off the field, during and after every game — win or lose.

Their manager, Eric Smith, provided a model for composure and positive coaching that every Little League coach should emulate. And he did it in a national spotlight.

Every year, thousands of teams dream of reaching Williamsport and playing before 24,000 fans in the Little League World Series. Few reach that pinnacle. And no team has ever done what the Petaluma National squad did — proving once again that how you play the game truly does matter.